1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to removing heavy contaminant particles of dirt, grit, or debris that become entrapped in a wash rag, wash mitt or wash brush used to clean high gloss surfaces and suspending such contaminants in a cleaning solution, and more particularly to a device for removing particles of dirt, grit, or debris from a long-handle wash brush used to wash a recreational vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Manufacturers of products with precision or high gloss surfaces such as mirrors, windows, optical lenses, composites such as Corian® countertops, appliances, metal tools, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, automobiles, recreational vehicles (RV), and boats are well aware of the high risk of scratches, nicks, pitting, staining, corrosion, and discoloration that can occur during manufacturing, assembling, shipping, installation, and refinishing operations of these high gloss surfaces. Therefore, temporary protective coatings are widely used to protect such surfaces from these various products during the material handling process. The surface finishes of new vehicles such as automobiles, boats, or recreational vehicles must often be protected by temporary protective coatings from abrasive particles or other deleterious conditions in the environment during shipment by road, rail, or sea. In these applications, the temporary protective coating on the high gloss surface will become contaminated or dirty, and removal of the temporary protective coating eliminates the contamination, thereby greatly simplifying cleaning of the surface. Once these temporary coatings are removed, the high gloss products are susceptible to scratches or abrasions. In spite of these precautionary steps taken by the manufacturer to avoid abrasions to these high gloss surfaces as well as the use of modern paints and clear coating, automobiles, motorcycles, boats, and recreational vehicles are still susceptible to surface scratches and abrasions after these products are sold to the purchasing public.
A common source of such scratches or abrasions can be dirt, grit, or debris that often accumulates on wash rags, wash mitts, and wash brushes that are used to wash the exterior of the vehicle. Further, automatic car washing equipment utilizing recyclable wash water can also contribute to scratching and abrading of high gloss painted surfaces on automobiles. For this reason alone, some vehicle owners refuse to visit car washes to have their vehicle washed. The alternative is obviously to use a wash rag or wash mitt with a bucket of soapy water and wash the vehicle by hand. Unfortunately, hand washing of an automotive vehicle, boat, or RV is a source of scratches and abrasions caused by the dirt, grit, or debris that often accumulates on the wash rags or washes mitts used to wash the exterior of these vehicles. When a dirty wash rag or wash mitt is placed in a bucket of soapy water for rinsing, the dirt, grit, and debris that has been picked up from the dirty surface of the vehicle is transferred into the bucket of soapy water. As the wash water becomes more contaminated with dirt and grit, the wash rag or wash mitt may actually pickup some of the grit or debris that is suspended in the wash water or that has accumulated in the bucket. Therefore, if the wash rag or wash mitt is not properly rinsed clean, such grit or debris is likely to be transferred back onto the exterior of the glossy surface of the vehicle where it will cause significant damage in the form of scratches to the surface finish of the car, boat, or RV being cleaned.
The prior art has little to offer to solve this problem effectively. One prior art patent addresses this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,880 issued to Lamb, discloses a system for separating particles of dirt, gravel, grit or other potentially damaging debris from a wash fluid when such fluid is contained in a receptacle such as a bucket. The filter assembly itself is shaped such that it matches the shape of the receptacle and fits firmly within the receptacle. The filter component of the filter assembly has an upward facing side and a downward facing side and is made from a plastic hand mesh, screen, or any other suitable plastic screen-like material. The upward facing side of the filter component includes crossbars that are tapered to minimize the surface area of the filter component. At least two baffles are attached to the downward facing side of the filter component to reduce the motion of the wash fluid around and through the filter assembly. These baffles may include secondary baffle-like structures attached at right angles to the primary baffles for further reducing the movement of the fluid below the filter assembly.
Lamb discloses that after a wash rag or wash mitt which is being used to wash a vehicle or other surface picks up grit, dirt, or debris, the user places the wash rag or wash mitt into the bucket and rubs the wash rag or wash mitt against the filter assembly. The grit, dirt, or debris is loosened from the wash rag or wash mitt and becomes suspended in the wash fluid.
There are several known problems in the use of such prior art dirt, grit, and debris separator. In the first place, the filter assembly sits at the very bottom of the bucket. The diameter of the bucket is the smallest near the bottom of the bucket. Therefore, lateral movement is very limited not as much as for a wash rag than it is for a wash mitt or wash brush. A wash mitt is placed on the hand of a person, particularly a male user with a relatively large hand, leaving little room for lateral movement at the bottom of the bucket. Therefore, the filter assembly has a limited capability of removing grit or debris from a wash mitt because lateral movement of a wash mitt is very limited due to the small diameter of the bucket. Some users have solved this problem by stacking multiple filter assemblies within a bucket so that the upper surface of the filter assembly is at a raised level within the bucket such that it becomes easier to reach as well as provided a little more lateral room to allow for lateral movement in that the diameter of the bucket increases as you approach the open end of the bucket. Such a solution can be expensive. Further, in using the bucket receptacle with the single filter element or multiple elements mounted at the bottom thereof, it is impossible to clean a brush with any type of handle since the bucket is not large enough in diameter to place all of the bristles of the brush against the filter element because the handle of the brush cannot be accommodated within the diameter of the bucket. Therefore, what is needed is a wash bucket with a simple inexpensive insert which will permit the removal of grit, dirt, or debris from wash rags, wash mitts, as well as wash brushes with long or short flow through or non-flow through handles typically used in the cleaning of an RV vehicle.